Fever Dreams
by Mabel Lane
Summary: Tom is home from Bromwell and is looking for some fun away from his family. He runs into someone he never expected to see.
After the break up with Daria... things got heavy. Bromwell was a first rate school, and no amount of old money could keep Tom enrolled if he did not pass his classes. Fielding had obviously prepared him with a very thorough education, but work was work. With Daria out of the picture and his heart still recovering from the whirlwind junior and senior year had been girlfriend-wise, Tom dove head first into his work. He had started enough drama for a while, and the courseload was hard enough that he was distracted for a few months.

By winter break, though, he had an itch to get back at it again. He knew it was silly, considering how much turmoil his previous attempts at dating had caused, but knowing that did not stop him from wanting more. He was home until some time in January, and after a few nights with his parents and Elsie, he was ready to go out on his own for a bit.

His first stop, heaven help him, was once again the Zon. It had been a while since he last visited Lawndale's resident bar and shitty concert venue; last time was with Daria, to see a Mystik Spiral set. Luckily enough, tonight there was some other no-name band playing, although they were nowhere near as so-bad-it's-funny as Spiral. After a beer and a few lackluster songs, he wondered why he bothered coming. The place no longer brought him pleasure from ridiculing it and its patrons; now, it only brought up bad memories.

He was ready to leave and find another source of dull entertainment when he spotted a girl that seemed out of place. She was wearing pig tails, which earned her a few glares from others in the crowd, and stood at the back of the room, by the bar. She had an anxious look about her, and was wringing her hands, with her gaze locked on the band.

He was apprehensive for a moment, remembering the last time he attempted such a conversation, before walking over to her. She didn't notice him as he approached her, and continued to bite her lip.

"Hey, they're not that bad, are they?" he joked, trying to grab her attention.

She turned to him, looking panicked for a second before easing up. "No," she laughed, still somewhat nervous, "they're boring, really. I'm just... thinking about stuff."

"Thinking is good," he said with a shrug. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, I dunno. Just trying to get away from life, I guess. It's not working so well."

"Is something stressing you out?"

She gave him an appraising look for a moment before continuing. "My entire life is stressing me out, honestly. But it's mostly my friends. I get so caught up in whether or not they like me or think I'm cool that I get really nervous and annoy them."

"I can relate. I think we're all a little anxious about how well percieved we are."

"Yeah," she said, "but I take it to an extreme. I thought... last year, when we gave up the fashion club, that it would all mellow out, but nothing's actually changed. I guess I was stupid to think anything would change."

He looked surprised. "The fashion club? Like, with Quinn Morgendorffer?"

"Oh my god, you know Quinn?"

"I dated her sister, Daria, for a while. I'm a little surprised someone from the fashion club would be in a place like this, let alone talking to someone like me."

Once again, she laughed, but this time she smiled with it. "I'm the odd one out. I don't really fit in. But enough about that, I can't believe I'm talking to someone who dated Daria! I'm Stacy Rowe."

He grinned. "I'm Tom Sloane. I'm a freshman at Bromwell, but I'm home for the holidays."

"Lucky! We don't get out for another week!" Stacy exclaimed, and she looked ready to giggle.

"College has it's benefits. Say, you wanna go get a slice of pizza?"

"At Pizza King?" Stacy scoffed. "I'm a little tired of that grease bucket, sorry. Could we go to Cluster Burger instead?"

"It's a date," he confirmed. "C'mon, my car's over this way. You'll have to excuse the rust; my parent's may be rich, but they're also cheap, and I'm always stuck with the cars that have been passed down for a couple generations."

"I don't mind! A car's a car in my eyes," Stacy said, walking with him towards the exit.

"You won't be saying that when you have to sit in the thing," Tom countered, and he lead her to the pitiful sedan itself.

Nothing too interesting happened. They joked, and talked a lot more, and ate junk food they would both regret later. But something else happened. Tom found a girl who was gracious and shy, but funny, even if she used to be part of the infamous fashion club. Stacy found a guy who didn't judge her, and who saw her as more than the nervous wannabe. They exchanged numbers, and both hoped that maybe, this time would be a little different


End file.
